Shadowmagic is a rip roaring fun fantasy adventure novel by John Lenahan very loosely based on Irish mythology where every chapter ends on the edge of a cliff (or at least a high curb.) Join Conor as he grapples with typical teenage problems like, how to deal with a father's high expectations, how to survive in the world on your own and how to woo a beautiful girl - that wants you dead.

This book makes me think of jazz hands and Irish accents and magic. All of which is a direct result of the fact that I listened to the audiobook version. The podcast version precisely, where due to the serialized publication method, each chapter had an intro and outro with Celtic music and an overly enthuastic rendition of the title.

The audiobook production was actually quite well done. It’s the first time I’ve listened to a book narrated by the author, and it was very pleasant. There was a lot of excitement and variation to the narration, and it’s obvious the author enjoys the story. It helps that he has a natural storytelling voice that fit the story quite well.

The story itself was fun and humourous. Poor Conor goes through so much, but he is accompanied by a delightful crew of characters, and everything has a pretty positive spin.

This is an adventure worthy of any young reader, while still offering a lot for older readers. I was thoroughly entertained, and have already downloaded the second book. In podiobook format too, so I’m sure I’ll be thinking of jazz hands again.